Dating Safely Online

As professional Irish matchmakers, we believe that our services at Intro are far superior to online dating. As opposed to online dating sites, we provide a personalized service that caters to your individual needs. We are aware though that many people will explore the online dating world prior to utilizing our company’s services. It is for this reason that we want to offer our thoughts on how to ensure that you are dating safely online.

Pick the right dating site for you

Online dating is a large moneymaker for many sites and with this, there is a lot of variety out there to choose from. There are membership based online dating sites that require you to pay to utilize their services. As well, there are free services that give you access to everything. Plus, there are sites that cater to types of people from certain backgrounds (e.g. Jewish) and others that are for people looking for a certain perk (e.g. Sugar daddy). Plus, one cannot forget that there are sites for those looking for an immediate hook up versus a long-term relationship. To keep yourself safe from disappointment, be sure to carefully choose your dating site.

Protect your online dating identity

Most online dating sites will require that you post a picture, select a username, and then fill in a number of details to complete your profile (e.g. age, height, weight, interests, etc.). Be mindful of what you put on this profile and what other people will be able to view. Depending on your occupation, you may really have to be careful about what you write on your profile. For example, if you were a teacher, would you want your young students to view your selected pictures? If not, then remove those pictures. While you want to be honest about who you are and your interests, you also don’t want them to be used against you at some point later in your life.

Block and/or report any suspicious individuals

A part of dating safely online is blocking and reporting any suspicious individuals that you meet from an online dating site. If you are messaging with someone and you have a bad feeling about them, then both report and block them. By blocking them, it means that they can no longer message you. By reporting them, the online dating site will look into their activity on the dating site and determine, if they should be able to utilize it any more. Feel free to use the blocking method as much as you like. This can be used to block those that you aren’t interested in or those that you don’t wish to see come up in search terms. Some people even use the block features available on those that they know in person, as they don’t want them to see their online activity.

Be aware of scammers

Not only do these sites make a lot of money from these online dating sites, but also individuals on them can scam people for a large financial sum. First, they will review your listing and then create the perfect profile for you. This can involve tailoring their profile with certain pictures and descriptions that will likely appeal to you. They will message you, have you connect with them on an emotional level, and then start asking for assistance. This can happen over a short or long period of time. Before you know it, they’re asking for financial assistance to a) pay for food for their pet, b) fix up their car, or even c) to visit you. If you want to be safely dating online, you’ll keep your financial information to yourself and not provide any money to anybody that you haven’t met in person.

Use a tech savvy friend

Forget about the shame of having to admit that you’re doing online dating. Tons of people are doing it nowadays. Trust us, you’ll feel more shame if you create an online profile without the technological skills. A tech savvy friend can help you upload pictures, create a catchy profile, and explain to you the ins and outs of the online dating site that you’ve chosen. This could include knowing how to set certain pictures to private to ensuring that you’re not committing to a recurring monthly billing process.

If you utilize all of our tips, then it should help with dating safely online. One final thought is to meet in public the first time that you’re meeting somebody. This ensures that you will stay safe, in case, they turn out to be someone different than they portrayed online. Intro is an in-person matchmaking service with a ton of success in creating long lasting relationships. While, we would prefer that you use our services, we have created these tips above to assist you with dating safely online.

GOT A FRIEND WHO NEEDS A LITTLE NUDGE?

24 Grafton StreetDublin 2Ireland

(01) 6777 000info@intro.ie

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It is the policy and commitment of Intro Matchmaking that we do not and shall not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, colour, sex, sexual orientation,
national origin, physical or mental disability. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff and clients.
Anyone may be offered membership of Intro Matchmaking once they are willing to accept the policies we have in place, meet our acceptance criteria and for whom we
feel that we can provide five suitable matches.